Fragile Glass
by Lizzie B
Summary: When Bobby's mother finally loses all sense of reality Alex sees exactly what her partner has dealt with all these years. A continuation of a drabble from 25 Crimes.
1. Shattered

Fragile Glass

Part One: Shattered

By: Lizzie B

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Author's Note: Well, this drabble just was not happy being a drabble and demanded to be a full fledged story. Here's the first part again, just so people don't get confused. Seconf one is coming up shortly!

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"Mom," Bobby cajoles softly to the woman curled up in the back corner of the laundry room. "I brought something for you." Frances Goren doesn't respond, but Bobby knows she's listening. He reaches into his jacket pocket and pulls out a crumpled piece of tinfoil he'd put there after lunch. "I thought you might like it," He says and rolls it to her. He keeps perfectly still as his mother looks up from her knees, but her eyes settle on him instead of the tinfoil. He didn't expect the ruse to work, but at least her attention is on him now.

"You," She hisses, "You took my son away!" And she launches herself at him with surprising agility for a woman her age. Bobby knows what's coming though and easily catches her, pinning her arms to her side and holding tight as she struggles. When he stands with his mother trapped in his arms the nurse rushes forward with a needle full of one sedative or another. Within minutes his mother is limp in his arms and he passes her off to a pair of orderlies. Along with the nurse he follows and watches them carry his mother to an isolation room, where they strap her to the bed.

Dr. Shima comes to check on her and then stands next to Bobby with that slightly mournful expression he always wears when he's about to deliver bad news.

"It's bad this time, Robert. This might be the one."

Bobby closes his eyes and his shoulders drop forward, "Is there anything you can do?"

"There are stronger medications, but the side effects are stronger. We can increase the dosage on what we're giving her now, but anytime the staff needs to get near her, she'll probably have to be sedated."

"How's the orderly she attacked?" He asks in a near whisper.

"He's coming around. The laceration on his head required stitches, but besides that he'll only have a few bruises." Dr. Shima pauses and Bobby sighs.

"He's filling charges?"

"Maybe, the Director and I will be talking with him." Dr. Shima grips his shoulder and tries to be comforting, "It will be alright." Bobby nods and watched his mother's doctor walk away. He reaches in his pocket, takes out his phone and presses two on speed dial.

"Alex," He says when she answers, "I need you."


	2. Shards

Fragile Glass

Part Two: Shards

By: Lizzie B

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Author's Note: And now, part two! Don't ask how many parts there will be. My muse has grabbed me and is dragging me along for the ride. And man is present tense really hard to write, lol. Please enjoy!

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Alex has never been to Carmel Ridge before tonight, and finds the place exactly like she imaged. It's a mix of a hospital and a nursing home with the same decorator as every Holiday Inn she's ever stayed at.

She finds the isolation wing by following the signs and pauses outside the door to study her partner at the end of the hall. If there was anyone who ever looked like Atlas it was Bobby right at this moment. Someone thought to bring him a chair, but he stands looking into one of the rooms, lost in thought and a pain she can't begin to understand.

Yet, he'd called her and she can't think of a reason why. He had said he needed her, but after that one confession, he'd apologized for waking her. She spent the next few minutes getting him to tell her where he was. Something was seriously wrong. And how pathetic did it make her that she was just glad he'd called her? She sighs and pushes the door open walking down the hall to him.

"Hey Bobby," She calls gently and he looks away from the window.

"You didn't have to come Eames."

She rolls her eyes and ignores the comment, "What happened?"

For a moment he looks like he's not going to tell her, but after a minute of tense silence he sighs in defeat, "She had a dentist appointment today. She's got…a cavity. One of the orderlies went to get her and she was having an episode. She…she…"

"She what Bobby?" She asks.

"She attacked him," He whispers, looking guilty, as if it was his fault. "She threw something at him and it knocked him out. Mom…mom ran out of the room and hid in the laundry room. They called me when they went to see what was taking so long."

"She's okay now?"

He shrugs, "Dr. Shima's…worried she might…might not recover."

"Oh, Bobby," She reaches out for him but he sidesteps before she can touch him so she folds her arms across her chest instead.

"There are some stronger medicines he recommended, but I want to wait until she wakes up."

"Did he tell you when that might be?" Bobby shrugs, so she sits in the chair.

"Eames, you don't…"

"Have to stay?" She looks up at him and gives him a tight smile, "Yes, Bobby I do." Something passes just behind his eyes, so quickly she can't catch it. She figures whatever it was, it was good since he just nods and turns back to his silent vigil over his mom.


	3. Glazing

Fragile Glass

Part Three: Glazing

By: Lizzie B

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Author's Note: Part three because my muse has me working in over time. She's a slave driver people, a slave driver!

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"You can see her, Robert," Dr. Shima says hours later, "But be careful." Bobby nods and walks right past the doctor without a word. Alex hangs back, standing beside the doctor and waiting. Bobby approaches slowly, "Hey Mom."

"Where's my son?" She asks tearfully, "It's late and I have to make sure he's safe from them."

"Mom, I'm right here," Bobby says sweetly, reaching out a hand to brush her hair back.

"No!" She snaps, jerking against her restraints, "No! Bobby! Bobby! Where are you Bobby?" The real Bobby steps back, his hand curling into a fist before he pushes past her and Dr. Shima and kept going and still Frances Goren called for her son.

Dr. Shima sighs, "She either asks for him or turns on him when she has a break."

Alex digests the news as she follows after her partner, trying to keep up with his massive strides. He storms through the halls, hands clenching and unclenching. She can barely hear him muttering angry to himself.

"Bobby!" She yells, jogging now.

He stops and turns, lightning fast, "Don't call me that!" He thunders with enough force to have her stop dead in her tracks, "Don't ever call me that again!" And then he's turning and walking away again. She's not used to the full force of his anger and it takes her a moment to recover. Once she does, she's after him like a shot.

She finds him outside, pounding his anger into a tree hard enough to shake the snow loose from the branches. She moves to his side, watching helplessly. Finally he stops, panting hard and leaning on his arms against the tree.

"When I was six she took me to Coney Island. It was a tradition of ours. The first day of summer, we'd fight the crowds together. The next year she wouldn't take me because of "them"."

"We should get those knuckles looked at," Alex says softly, laying a hand on his shoulder. She can't quite comprehend how it happens, but the next thing she knows she's in his arms, being pulled to the ground. Bobby's dropping to his knees, pulling her with him. She willingly goes, knowing he needs the contact and knowing she needs it to. She's wanted it for years. Her only regret is that it comes out of tragedy.

"She's gone, Alex, my mother's gone." He chokes out, holding her just a little too tightly, "What will I do? Who do I have left now?"

"You have me, and you're going to go home with me and let take care of you."


	4. Fine Out

Fragile Glass

Part Four: Fine Out

By: Lizzie B

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Author's Note: Part four, in record time. This might just be an all-nighter folks, lol. Don't you just love it when your muse keeps flogging you until you finish something? I don't, lol. Incase your interested, all the part titles come from glass blowing. Please read and review.

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Bobby knows he's not going to sleep. He knows Alex is going to set up her couch for him and then get him a glass of water. She'll pretend to go to bed and he'll spend the night, staring at her ceiling replaying the day over and over again. He had known for years this day would come. He knew the medications would some day not be enough to control his mother's disease. He hadn't thought it would be so soon.

His mother, for all the times she had thought he was "them", was still the only person to show him any sort of care and kindness. He needs those brief moments when there was recognition in her eyes. He needs to be able to tell her about his successes and have her tell him she was proud.

Alex did exactly what Bobby expected. While he stood just inside her door, she disappeared down a hall and came back with an old quilt and a pillow. He'd spent plenty of nights here when they worked cases and had always enjoyed the experience. It was a safe way to indulge himself with her. He had called her out of pure instinct. When in trouble, he reached for her and she was always there to steady him.

"I'll get something for you hands," She says, "Grab a seat and we'll see if you'll live."

"Okay," He responds dully, sitting dutifully on the couch and waiting. He wants to call her back. He wants to beg and plead with her to make this empty ache go away. Kneeling in the snow only hours before he felt something besides anger and self-loathing, he felt safe and loved. He felt Alex.

When she returns she sits on the coffee table in front of him and starts pulling out the things she'll need to bandage his torn and bloody knuckles. He holds out his hands and she dabs at his knuckles with peroxide. He knows why he starts silently crying while she tends to his wounds. Once his mother did the same after his father had beaten him. He understands know why he called her, why he held her and why he's got to make sure she understands just what she means to him.

"Eames," He says softly, getting her to look at him.

"What's wrong?" She asks, noting the tears that have rolled down his cheeks.

"I have to tell you something and you…you have to listen. No interrupting, okay?"

"Alright," She agrees hesitantly. Obviously she's not sure where he's going, but she's trusting him.

"You have to understand…you know…being close to people is…very hard for me. I can't just let people in. You…you're in and, and I want you there. You've made things…better, easier for me. At work, you keep me balanced and you…you stayed. I can't explain what it's like…what it means that you did. Eames…Alex, you're all I have left and all I could ask for." She stares at him, and his heart sinks. He's done it again, over stepped what was right and what was accepted. "I'm…I'm sorry, Alex, I shouldn't have, I…I'll go now."


	5. Lampworker

Fragile Glass

Part Five: Lampworker

By: Lizzie B

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Author's Note: If I didn't have a job I would have stayed up all night writing, lol. It seems like a resolution doesn't it? I'm not sure it is, because my muse is still nagging at me. We'll see, I guess.

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Alex doesn't know what to say. She's just had every girly fantasy played out right before her and she can only sit there and stare as Bobby gets up and starts to leave. Her brain, which is still soaking in Bobby's words, finally registers the fact that he's leaving and she's up like a shot.

"Wait!" She manages breathlessly. He's already putting on his jacket.

"It's okay, Eames." Damn it, he's back to calling her Eames, "You don't need to explain." And then he's walking out of her apartment. She forgoes the jacket, slides into her shoes and chases after him. She curses his long legs and the cold as she yells for him to stop.

"Damn it Bobby if you don't stop when I catch you I'll shoot you!" She yells after chasing him for nearly a block. That finally gets him to stop, but there's at least three feet between them and she knows one step forward and he'll be gone.

Breathing hard she chooses her next words carefully, "Do you know it's nearly three in the morning? You called me at about eleven thirty, just as I was falling asleep. I had to pry every word out of your mouth and I came anyway. You yelled at me, actually angrily yelled at me and then practically ran away from me. I followed. It's three in the god damn morning in the middle of January and I'm not wearing a jacket. Don't you get it, you genius, I'll always follow you!"

"Why?" She almost doesn't hear him over the wind and the snow.

"Why what?" She snaps, sick of trying to follow his train of thought.

"Why do you follow me? You saw what I can become tonight, how can you follow that? Or…or defend it," He turns to face her, once again looking like the world has been placed on his shoulders, "I don't understand."

"I just…I care, Bobby, simple as that. I care about you, so I worry and I'll do anything I can to make sure you're okay. I don't know how else to explain it."

"Eames…"

"Damn it, we're not at work! It's Alex!" She rages, just a little desperately. Just hold me like you did back at Carmel Ridge and everything will be okay again, she thinks, waiting for him to digest and dissect what she's said.

"This…complicates things," He says, turning to face her.

"When have things been easy for us?" She offers a hand, "Can we go back to my apartment because I'm really cold." He closes the distance between them, takes her hand and then pulls her into his arms again.

"Can I say it now?" He asks, "Because I've wanted to for a very long time."

"Dope," She lightly hits his arm, "You could have said it years ago."

"I…love you…Alex."

"I love you too Bobby."


	6. Annealer

Fragile Glass

Part Six: Annealer

By: Lizzie B

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Author's Note: Ah, there we go. This is a nice cap off. My muse can live happily now. I hope you enjoyed this, folks, I certainly did. For the curious, fine out is the process of letting air bubbles rise out of molten glass, a lampworker is another name for a glassblower, and an annealer is the final oven in the glass blowing process where the glass can cool slowly so it won't fracture. Shattered, shards and glazing should be easy for you to figure out, lol. Thanks for all the nice reviews!

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"Unfortunately, she had a bad reaction to the aripiprazole," Dr. Shima says, and Bobby nods. He researched the drug thoroughly before allowing his mother to be treated with it.

"What happened?" He asks, watching his mom enjoy a drug induced sleep.

"She had a seizure, which is highly uncommon, but I'm hesitant to continue treating her with it. I think the ziprasidone is the best drug for her now."

"It causes heart arrhythmias," Alex whispers to him and he digests the information with a frown.

It can cause hearth arrhythmias, yes, but the risk is low." Dr. Shima sighs at the look on Bobby's face. "Alright, no ziprasidone. Risperidone is another option."

Bobby glances at Alex who makes no comments against the drug. Mentally he runs through all the information he has on the antipsychotic. Finally he nods and noticed Dr. Shima visibly relaxes. He knows his difficult, doctors aren't use to family members who know as much if not more as them.

"We'll start her on a fairly low dosage and see how she does."

"Thank you, Doctor," Bobby smiles and watches Dr. Shima retreat to take care of other patients.

"You still sure you want to invite him to the wedding?" Alex asks, "I don't think he likes you much."

Bobby grins down at her, "He likes me in his own way."

Alex shrugs, "Well, at least we'll get a gift out of him if he doesn't come." Bobby laughs, and lifts Alex's hand to kiss her knuckles.

"Let's go home," He suggests, and Alex nods, understanding it's painful for him to interact with his mom now. Since that night so many months ago, she's never recognized him as her son. He still sees her once a week, but he brings Alex now. She makes sure he doesn't retreat into himself too much afterwards. She's a blessing he can't do without.

"Deakins called this morning while you were in the shower," She says casually as they walk towards the exit. Bobby stiffens ever so slightly, but she catches it anyway, "The Chief of Detectives isn't happy, but our record seems to be enough to make him turn a blind eye."

"No new partner?" He asks, just to make sure.

"Nope, you're stuck with me," Alex laughs, "Remember, I'll always follow you."

"I like you at my side much better."


End file.
